Clear the Mechanism – We All Need Do-Overs

Why do I have a picture of Kevin Costner in a Detroit Tigers uniform?

Well, let’s see…  (1) He’s not bad to look at, that’s for sure.  (2) I’m still really, really sad that my Tigers got swept by the Giants in the World Series.  (3) For Love of the Game is by far one of the greatest baseball movies of all time.

The real reason, though, is because in that movie, Billy Chapel (played by Costner), has one of the best lines ever:  “Clear the mechanism.”  It’s his way of calming himself down and tuning everything out when he’s under pressure and needs to regroup.  It’s his way of giving himself a do-over.

I’ve been absent from this little piece of the world wide web for some time now, only popping in once in the past few weeks – and even that was only to show you what I got in the mail.

Truth is, I missed my blog.  I missed all of my readers and the sense of community and support…and I missed the therapy that my blog gives me just by writing it – even if no one were to read it.  But you do read it, which still amazes me to this day.  And for that I thank you, sincerely.  But I needed a do-over.

I’m a creature of habit inasmuch as a multi-tasking mom-wife-daughter-employee-blogger-crafter-writer-wannabe-photographer-constant-learner-grocery-buyer-meal-cooker-family-taxi-schedule-keeper-woman can be…meaning, I’m not.  I embrace change.  I am fueled by it.  I get excited over the most mundane of changes, like clean underwear and changing the bed sheets.  You have no idea how amped up I get when it’s time for my next hair appointment – new hair color every 7 weeks?  Yes please!  It’s refreshing to start over, especially if things have gotten stale or boring…or a bit stinky.

There’s a bit of a drastic change in the look of One Tough Mother.  And I think you’ll begin to notice a change in the feel of it as well.  And I truly hope you enjoy what you see and feel.

I’ve spent a lot of time being introspective over the past few months, learning a lot about myself, my priorities, my relationships with other people, my passions.  This will all translate itself into my blog.

Since I began this blog in April 2011, I have never had much real direction or purpose.  I would spew craft and organization ideas, Project Life layouts on occasion, and bits and pieces of my life, and just smash it around on the pages of my blog in the hopes that it would make sense and someone would relate and maybe drop a kind word my way.  And for a while, it kind of worked {much to my surprise}.

Part of the reason that I took a break several weeks ago was because I got burned out.  I really got to the point where I felt that I had lost myself in my blog.  It wasn’t an accurate representation of me.  And really, if it isn’t me, then what’s the point?  You don’t come here to see someone else, right?

You’re going to start seeing a lot more of what makes me me.  I intend to share more personal stories, letting you in on what goes on in my head {scary, I know}, and in my heart {sometimes even scarier}.  I want you to see and feel my passion for my family.  I want you to know what it’s like only spending half of your daughter’s life with her because of divorce {see, you’re not alone!}.  I want to share how, no matter how much I accomplish, or how nice people are, I never feel like I quite measure up {anybody else with me on that?}.

The point is, I want to be more relatable.

I’ll still share crafts and organizational projects with you, sure.  I like those.  And once I finally get caught up on my Project Life album, I’ll share that, too!  {See, I’m not keeping it all together – I’m currently still working on my July pictures, and it’s November!!}

You’ll also begin to see more of my sense of humor, and just life in general.  Real. Life.

Maybe even a video post every now and again…

Full of duct tape and do-overs.